


I'll Beg you Nice, From my Knees

by frenchtuck



Series: All I Wanted was You [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Physical Contact, Scheming, accessing one's emotions, more excessive use of italics, things these two are generally bad at
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:21:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25855048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frenchtuck/pseuds/frenchtuck
Summary: Following the victory in Fhirdiad, the Black Eagle Strike Force takes a detour to Garreg Mach before returning to Enbarr. Byleth and Edelgard have a serious discussion about the afterlife at the foot of Jeralt and Sitri's grave.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth, Ferdinand von Aegir/Hubert von Vestra
Series: All I Wanted was You [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1876111
Comments: 4
Kudos: 80





	I'll Beg you Nice, From my Knees

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise! I extended it. As always, feedback, comments, and notes are greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for all the love on the last part!

The trek back to central Fodlan had started slowly. Byleth and Ferdinand were in the worst shape, and Petra had practically carried Dorothea for the first leg of the journey. Everyone was belligerent that there be a stop at Garreg Mach, and Edelgard felt she had no place to protest after the costs of their victory. 

_ My friends… my love. All risked their lives to bring justice to the church. Will they remain by my side now that we have achieved our goal? _

The monastery looked the same in every regard but now echoed with the song of a dead god. Seiros, Seteth, Flayn, and even Byleth had all been removed from their godhood. What remained of the church was utterly human, and what remained of Fodlan was finally in the hands of those who lived there. 

“Your majesty.” Edelgard turned around to see Hubert posted in a shadowed corner, clearly watching her from a distance. 

“I can see you are deep in thought, but I thought it pertinent to inform you that Ferdinand has seen Byleth visiting her parents’ grave.” Hubert’s lips were twisted into the faintest of smiles, his eyes alive like wildfire. Edelgard knit her eyebrows together and simply nodded, and made her way toward the cemetery. 

_ I’ve never seen Hubert this happy. Do I make Byleth that happy? _

When Edelgard descended the stairs toward the graveyard, Byleth was seated with her back toward her. She was about to speak out when she heard the former mercenary speak instead. 

“... and I promise to talk to her. I’ll give it to her tonight, we’ve only just returned to the monastery.”

_ Give what to who? I’m interrupting.  _

Edelgard shuffled her feet and cleared her throat, her gaze fixed decidedly at the ground. 

_ I’m the emperor of the Adrestian Empire and my army just defeated the Church of Seiros and I can’t look the woman I love in the eye. This bodes well for my future, surely _ . 

“Didn’t know there was a line to talk to my parents. Care to join me? I’m sure they won’t mind.” Byleth’s back remained turned to her, but there was laughter in her voice. Edelgard swallowed and approached Byleth slowly. She sat next to her on the ground, keeping a wide berth from the former mercenary.

_ Out of respect. I don’t want to assume anything.  _

Byleth chuckled and shook her head. “Edelgard, I’m not going to bite you. I enjoy your company far more than you’re giving yourself credit for.” She turned sideways to look at the young empress and lifted an arm to invite her closer. 

Edelgard blushed profusely and scooted closer. “I see… forgive me, I did not want to assume.” Byleth laughed and closed the gap between them, throwing her left arm over Edelgard’s shoulders.

Edelgard froze.  _ She’s touching me so casually… could she? No, this is purely platonic. _

Byleth settled with her arm draped across Edelgard but turned suddenly to look at her. Edelgard’s breath caught in her throat.  _ Do I look back? _

“El” Byleth deadpanned. “Do you believe our loved ones can see us once they’ve passed?” 

Edelgard returned her gaze. Byleth was staring intently, clearly hungry for an answer.

_ What an odd question… but she called me El. _

“I hope they can, my… Byleth. My brothers and sisters, my parents… they deserve to know that their suffering was not lost.” Edelgard looked away, suddenly choked up.  _ Why am I crying?  _

“If they cannot… I think it’s best not to think about it. We’re already so lonely on this earth.” The empress fixed her gaze on the tombstone in front of her, where Sitri and Jeralt were laid to rest.

_ I came here so many nights, praying that Byleth had at least found them. Sitri was only 20 when she died, and her daughter nearly met the same fate.  _

“What do you think, my dear friend?” Edelgard refocused the discussion on Byleth, determined not to cry in front of the woman she secretly loved. She heard nothing at first. Byleth was silent beside her, her usual stoic manner seeming to return at the foot of her family’s resting place. 

Slowly, the sound of muffled laughter rose from her friend.  _ Is she.. Laughing? _

“I’m sorry, I don’t see what you find so funny.” Edelgard spat.  _ Is she laughing at me? _

“El, please don’t take offense to my laughter, it’s just that…” Byleth stopped laughing and turned to face her again. “I… I have a question for you, El. Please answer me honestly.” Byleth gazed at her with a severity she was not expecting. The desperation in her eyes was sobering.

_ Was Byleth always this emotional? It’s like she’s become an even more intense version of herself. _

Edelgard drew her eyebrows together in confusion and nodded slowly. “I promise,” Edelgard responded resolutely. 

Byleth took a deep breath and leaned impossibly closer. “El” the former mercenary whispered. “Why didn’t you tell me about all the times you visited my parents’ grave?”

_ Why didn’t I… how does she know that? _

“Answer the question first, and then I will tell you how I know.” Edelgard glowered back at Byleth, furious that someone might have been spying on her during her numerous outings over the years. 

“Fine. I shall tell you.” The empress’s voice was calm and unwavering, but her gaze was charged with anguish.

“Those torturous five years you were gone nearly cost me my life, my friends, and my life’s work multiple times. Weathering it without the person I most cherished by my side was agonizing beyond measure.” She stopped for a moment and inhaled deeply, clearly trying to keep herself from crying. 

“Byleth, there was no body. No sword, no cloak, no stray shock of green hair… I was sure you were dead, and there was still nothing to mourn. The only chance I had at any kind of closure was the fleeting hope that your spirit was reunited with your parents, and that you could perhaps hear me that way.”  _ And it was my fault her father was killed.  _

“I also figured that I owed it to your father to explain myself. His wife might have been left to die by the church, but he was killed in pursuit of my agenda… of selfishness, really. I felt I had no place mourning his daughter without acknowledging the senselessness of his death. And in time… when I had given up hope of finding you, they became my trusted confidants.” 

_ They know better than anyone how much I love you. _

“So that is why I visited. At first, to mourn you, but eventually to honor them. Besides, I have no way of knowing where my own family was laid to rest. That information was not disclosed to me, and then it became irrelevant.”

_ If they can see me, they’ll know how the world was changed for them.  _

Byleth was still looking at her intently, but her gaze had softened. Edelgard looked at her expectantly, not sure why her friend had chosen to fall quiet. 

“El… I spoke to them. After we defeated Rhea and the crest stone within me died, I saw my parents briefly.” 

Edelgard froze.  _ Byleth saw her parents? And spoke with them? _

“You saw your parents? Where? What happened?” Edelgard demanded. 

Byleth shook her head and sighed. “Where isn’t important. But they told me they loved me, and that I had to go back.” She paused and bowed her head. “They told me I had to go back to you. They heard everything, El. My mother said she would have killed Rhea herself after what she’s done. They forgive you, El. Now you must forgive yourself.”

_ They told her she had to come back for me and she did… could she possibly feel the same? _

Edelgard let the silence between them pass comfortably. Hearing that there was indeed life after death and that people could see their loved ones both comforted and terrified her. 

“Then I guess my own family knows what I’ve done for them. They know how we changed Fodlan in their honor.” She said finally, her voice hardly above a whisper.

“Then they know you should forgive yourself, too,” Byleth concluded. Edelgard looked back at her, the sun behind her head making her appear to have a halo. 

_ The irony of Byleth having a halo following her return to humanity... Maybe angels are indeed human.  _

Byleth stood, and extended her hand to the seated empress. Edelgard took it and rose to meet her.

“I know we’ve only just returned, but I’d like to see you again tonight after you’ve had time to rest. Shall we meet at the Goddess Tower at sundown?”

Edelgard nodded, grinning eagerly. “I would like that very much. I’m glad Hubert told me Ferdinand spotted you here, I wouldn’t have known to come looking for you.”

Byleth looked at her in confusion. “Hubert told you that Ferdinand saw me here?”

Edelgard sighed. “Yes, that’s what he told me. Is something wrong?” Byleth let out a belly laugh. Edelgard was struck by how much she resembled Jeralt now that she was fully human. 

“I see.” The former mercenary chuckled. “As it were, Ferdinand told me that Hubert saw you headed this way and I resolved to meet you here. I guess I was just faster.” Edelgard blushed at first, embarrassed to be made a fool of by people she considered to be friends. The hilarity of it dawned on her in time, and her laugh crescendoed across the monastery. 

_ I have friends who know me well enough to fool me. How lucky I am to be surrounded by people who care.  _

The emperor and the former mercenary parted ways with the promise of sunset in their minds. Edelgard nearly skipped back to her quarters, elated but unable to determine why. 

_ Jeralt's ring on her finger rested softly above Byleth’s beating heart, the empress fully resigned to her fiancee's embrace. They had returned to the former mercenary’s old quarters after descending the stairs of the Goddess Tower, too in love to walk the full way to where the empress resided. The night had sighed and fallen away like the petal of a carnation after their futures had been sealed. The old gods were dead and their children had been slain, but Edelgard had never felt more holy than when Byleth touched her for the first time as her lover. A slight breeze waltzed through the windows, and Edelgard swore she could make out the shadow of a man and a woman dancing in the mischievous shadows. As she fell asleep, she uttered a silent thank you to whoever was listening. _

**Author's Note:**

> so... more? I could definitely write one final part if people are into it. I'm super new to fanfic and have NO sense of the fandom because fuck twitter! Message me if you wanna follow me on tumblr i guess


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